The Goddesses
by Cheryblosom-chan
Summary: Four girls were chosen by Amaterasu to be goddesses. If they don't bear any heirs to their positions, Amaterasu will have to take on their responsibilities, and turn them back to humans. They can't let that happen! It's up to them to find love before it's too late, but what man will agree to stay with a goddess? SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaTema, and NejiTen; Reviews are appreciated!
1. Introduction

**This idea randomly fell into my insane imagination. I hope you enjoy it at least.**

**Note: All four of the goddesses where the same outfits as they do in Shippuden, because that's when this takes place.**

**Important note: This is **_**NOT**_** an Okami crossover! Amaterasu is an actual goddess from Japanese Shinto mythology, from the most common religion in Japan: Shintoism. I used her Okami appearance because it seemed like the right thing to do. The Celestial Plain is kind of like Mount Olympus from Greek mythology: it's not heaven and you don't go there when you die, it's simply where the gods live. Okami: depending on how you spell it in Japanese means great god or white wolf, that is why Amaterasu turns into a white wolf and is the goddess of the sun. Is the game Okami an influence: yes, but it has very little to do with the actual plot of this story.**

**~normal POV**

The sun shone brightly through the leaves to cast light on the earth below. Shadows could be seen moving through the trees at almost inhuman speeds. One of them landed on a branch high above the ground. His Byakugan surveyed the area around him for a few moments before he returned to his friends on a lower branch.

"How does it look," Shikamaru asked.

"Everything seems quiet, but it wouldn't hurt to check more thoroughly," Neji replied.

"Very well, Sasuke and Naruto, you two take the west, Neji and I will take the east. We meet back at the village in one hour," Shikamaru commanded, "Call for help if you find something."

They disappeared into the trees.

"Man, I hate these scouting missions, you never find anything anyway," Naruto whined.

"Shut up, dobe, you never know what could be in the forest just waiting to strike," Sasuke answered, "Especially on the eve of the annual festival."

Naruto continued on after him, but decided to keep quiet. Eventually, he heard a strange noise coming from below. He jumped to the ground to investigate, Sasuke followed him.

"What is it?"

"Don't you hear that? I think it's coming from over here."

The two followed the sound to find out if it was dangerous. Eventually, they discovered the source of the noise. It was a fox that got its leg caught in a trap. The poor animal was struggling greatly to escape, but to no avail.

"Aw, poor little guy, were you making all that noise," Naruto asked, as he knelt down next to the creature.

"Dobe, that's a female. Also, we have a mission to get to."

"Oh, come on Sasuke, don't be such a jerk. This will only take a second," Naruto said, as he examined the trap, "Wow you're really stuck aren't you? Hey, stop struggling you'll hurt yourself!"

He carefully opened the trap and the vixen was able to escape. Oddly enough, she didn't run away immediately as Naruto had expected. Instead, she looked up to examine her rescuer.

"You're a friendly little girl, aren't you," Naruto said.

He looked at the vixen's once trapped leg to check for injuries, but for some reason she wasn't injured at all. There wasn't even a wound where the trap had snapped shut!

"That's weird, how are you not hurt?"

As if on cue, the vixen immediately ran away as fast as her legs could carry her.

Sasuke attempted to snap him back to reality, "Hey, dobe, come on we have a mission to finish, remember?"

Naruto continued on after his friend, while still pondering about why that animal had no injuries after being caught in a trap.

The vixen ran quickly through the forest. Her speed was unmatched by any normal animal, of which she was not. Once she was far enough away, she stopped and closed her eyes. A light began to shine from her silky, grey fur, and within mere seconds the light engulfed her body.

Once the light was gone the vixen had vanished, and in its place, a woman had appeared. She had long, raven-colored hair, and pale skin. Her eyes were lavender and devoid of pupils. She wore a violet jacket and dark blue pants. She took a deep breath, and light engulfed her again, only this time she was transported into the clouds.

"Hinata, there you are, we thought you might have gotten lost or something," A voice said, from behind.

"S-Sorry Sakura, I had a little incident," Hinata replied, softly.

Sakura had short pink hair and pale skin as well. Her eyes were emerald green. Her face was heart-shaped, and her body was slim and slender. She wore a red shirt, and a white skirt with shorts underneath.

"What kind of incident," Sakura asked; her voice full of concern.

"W-Well, I s-sort of got caught in a trap."

"You have to watch out for those, Hinata. They're all over the place," Another voice interrupted.

The voice belonged to another woman, named Tenten. She didn't dress like the other two girls. Instead she wore red and white robes, and carried a scroll on her back. Her brown hair was tied up in two buns on her head, and matched her brown eyes. She had on fingerless gloves, like the kind one would see on a fighter.

"What happened when you got caught in the trap," Tenten asked.

"A-At first I started to panic, and tried to call out for help. Suddenly, a very kind human helped me out of it," Hinata's cheeks turned scarlet when she mentioned it.

Sakura smiled, "Well, at least you made it back safely."

Another woman had stepped in at this point, her name was Temari. She wore black robes, with a red sash tied around her waist. On her back was a huge fan, which she wouldn't hesitate to pull out should one choose to anger her. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up in four separate buns, and her blue-green eyes were soft, yet focused.

"I've never heard of a human willing to release an animal from a trap," She said, "Are you sure you weren't imagining it?"

"I-I'm sure, Temari," Hinata responded, quickly.

"Relax, I believe you. I was just giving you a hard time. Anyway, now that you're back, Lady Amaterasu wishes to speak to us together."

Sakura knew exactly what was going on, and she stayed behind. She wasn't that interested in what her friends were about to do.

The three girls walked along the clouds of the Celestial Plains, which were hidden high in the sky. Soon they came to a palace made from the clouds themselves, though to them cloud was as solid as ground. They entered the palace to find Lady Amaterasu waiting for them.

Amaterasu was garbed in red and white robes befitting royalty. Her beauty was unmatched any mortal woman; long white hair reached her lower back, and her red eyes were soft and caring. They bowed before her in respect.

"Lady Amaterasu, you wanted to see us," Temari stated.

"Yes," The goddess replied, "It's about your request that you informed me of earlier. I've come to a decision."

There was a pause, the younger girls waited with bated breath.

"I've decided that you can attend the humans' festival tonight, but you must promise to stay on your best behavior. You are not allowed to use your powers tonight, do you understand?"

"Yes, milady, we understand," The three confirmed.

"Is Sakura going to attend with you?"

"Well, she might need some convincing, but we really want her to come too," Tenten answered.

"Very well, you are dismissed."

The three girls exited the palace.

"Yes! We get to go," Hinata said, excitedly.

"This is going to be so awesome," Tenten said, cheerfully.

"Well, what are we waiting for let's go get ready," Temari commanded.

**~End of Chapter**

**What's going on here? Find out in chapter two!**

**Sakura**


	2. Who Are The Goddesses Again?

**Here's chapter two, enjoy!**

**~At Ichiraku, normal POV**

"Naruto, what do you mean you don't know what the festival is about," Shikamaru asked.

"Hn. Clueless as ever, dobe," Sasuke said, before slurping his ramen.

"Shut up, Teme, I am not clueless! I'm just usually so caught up in the fun of the night that I don't realize what it's all for, that's all."

"Hn. By 'caught up in the fun of the night' do you mean getting into a drinking contest with Kiba?"

"Teme, I said shut up! Now is someone going to answer my question?"

Shikamaru sighed, "Fine if you're really that dense. The festival is to celebrate the goddesses, you idiot."

"Who are the goddesses again?"

Neji nearly choked on his ramen, "You can't be serious. Do you really not know? There are many, but Konoha's festival is meant to celebrate the ones that shape our world the most. Such as, Hinata the all-seeing goddess of nature; my clan received the power of the Byakugan as a gift from her."

"There's also Temari, the goddess of wind, the skies, and protector of women. She is said to punish any man that would dare to wrong a woman," Shikamaru said, "She sounds kind of like my mom."

"Then there's Tenten, the goddess of war and fighting. It is said that her fighting spirit resides within every ninja," Neji explained.

"Sakura is the goddess of love and the moon. It's been passed down that she can always bring two perfectly-matched people together, whenever she feels like it. She's always watching the night."

Naruto smirked at this, and turned to Sasuke, "Heh heh, maybe Sakura could find the perfect match for Teme over here. Then he could finally get that pole out of his-"

His statement was interrupted by Sasuke hitting him on the head.

"Ow! Ok I get it, sheesh!"

"Finally, there is Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and mother to us all," Neji finished, "Without her the world would fall into permanent disarray."

Naruto nodded, "Ok I get it now. So, we have this festival to celebrate the things they do for the world, right?"

"You got it," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke had been spacing out and not really paying attention to the conversation. He paid for his meal and left the ramen shop. He began walking home, and along the way he noticed the various stalls and decorations being put up for the evening. He never much cared for the festival; it was just another excuse for Naruto to bug him as far as he could tell.

It wasn't that Sasuke didn't respect the goddesses; he just didn't like the festival. It was just a bunch of drinking, partying, and social interaction. He would usually ignore the festivities and go to bed early so that Naruto wouldn't bug him. Sasuke knew that wouldn't be the case this year. He could tell Naruto was going to do something extremely convoluted to make him go to the festival. All Sasuke had to do was be ready for the unexpected.

"Hey Teme!"

"_Speak of the god dang devil,"_ Sasuke thought, at the sound of his supposed best friend's voice.

"You left so quickly I forgot to ask you something. Are you going to the festival tonight?"

"No."

"Come on Teme! You never go! Will you at least come so that you can be there in case I drink too much?"

"Neji told me what you're like when you're drunk. I don't want to be anywhere near you."

Naruto flushed with embarrassment, "Ok that was one time! Come on please?!"

"I said no, now go away Dobe," Sasuke turned and started walking again.

Naruto pondered for a moment, and then an evil grin plastered his face, "Ok that's fine. Hey, if you don't want to go it's your choice right?"

Sasuke wasn't falling for it; he knew that Naruto's innocent tone was too good to be true.

"Although, I could just give all your fangirls the locations of your favorite hiding spots," Naruto smiled, smugly.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, "Dobe you don't even know any of them."

"Oh? Then what's this piece of paper I have in my pocket," He pulled it out and began reading, "Let's see here, oh yeah, I remember now! This is that list of your favorite hiding spots that I followed you around to find so that I could blackmail you later."

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, "You wouldn't dare."

"Heh heh, I can make this list disappear if you agree to come to the festival tonight."

Sasuke knew that Naruto had most likely made copies of this, so simply roasting it was out of the question. He should have known Naruto would pull this kind of stunt.

"Fine, I'll go to festival…" Sasuke groaned.

Naruto beamed, "Yes! See ya tonight!"

With that, he ran off.

Sasuke sighed heavily, "What did I get myself into?"

**~In the Celestial Plain**

"No seriously, I really don't feel like going to the festival," Sakura said.

"Please, it would be much more fun if we all go," Temari said, with a smirk.

"Tema please, you're joking, right? I just don't feel like going to the festival, ok?"

Temari grabbed Sakura's arm and forced her to look at her, "Sakura, you're not fooling any of us. The only reason you want to stay cooped up here is that you want to watch all of the mortals down below find the person they're destined for, and you're afraid that if you go down there, you're not going to find the man _you're_ destined to be with. We need to find the ones we're destined to be with so that we can have offspring that will take on our responsibilities in the future. This is our chance to look!"

"Come on, Sakura, it'll be fun," Tenten said.

They were right. These four girls may have a very important job, but they longed for more. Sakura would often stare longingly at the happy couples she had helped arrange. She would often catch Hinata watching the humans below, scanning for "interesting" ones as she put it. Of course this actually meant being a little pervert and using her "all seeing eyes" to watch a bunch of guys undress. Tenten would often spy on the training grounds to look for a suitable ninja mate. She always said that if he can defeat her in battle, she's all his. Temari, being the protector of women, was picky when it came to humans. She seemed to hate sexist men… so she says. Sakura once caught her gazing fondly down at the men who represent everything she claimed to detest. Sakura, of all people, would know that opposites attract.

This was a very crucial point in their lives as goddesses. This was the time when they needed to find suitable partners. They may have been all powerful, but at some point they needed to pass the torch. They needed offspring to carry out their responsibilities once their powers expired.

Yes, expired. Their powers, and the jobs that came with them, would be taken by Amaterasu. They would no longer hold ground as all powerful deities, they would become human again. Amaterasu was the only one of them who could master all of the powers; she delegated responsibility to specially chosen humans when they were very young. It had taken centuries for the sun goddess to find the four girls that fit the job.

Amaterasu was willing to break the cycle if they had children to eventually take on their jobs. This night was important, and because of how busy the four girls usually were, this might be their only chance to actually start searching, and hopefully find what they were looking for. Sakura considered the decision over and over in her head.

She wanted to go to the festival, but she was skeptical to say the least. As the goddess of love, she knew more than anyone that true love doesn't happen overnight. She had seen it fail all too often. She also knew this was important to all of them. Amaterasu did not want to have to wait another couple centuries to find children suited to take the jobs of goddesses. Sakura and her friends did long for male companionship in their admittedly boring lives; which is the main why they came up with this agreement and got Amaterasu's approval to attend the human's festival.

"Ok fine I'll go, but we're not staying all night," She finally agreed.

"Yes! Come on we have to get ready!"

Sakura sighed, "What did I get myself into?"

**~End of Chapter.**

**Chapter three will be up soon. What will happen at the festival? You'll have to wait to find out!**

**~Sakura**


	3. The Festival (Part 1)

**Here is chapter three, I hope you enjoy it!**

**~The Celestial Plain, normal POV**

"Well, are you ready to go, girls," Tenten asked, as they stood at the edge of the clouds ready to teleport down.

"I think so, oh wait! Hinata you should probably do something about your eyes. It wouldn't look normal if they saw a random girl with the Byakugan that no one from the Hyuga clan knows about," Sakura said.

"Oh you're right," Hinata replied.

She closed her eyes and opened them to reveal they had changed color to a light violet with pupils. Though they still retained her all seeing abilities, she would now be able to blend in.

"Everyone ready now? Good. Let's go!"

They teleported down to the forest below, and started walking towards the Hidden Leaf Village; hoping that tonight would not be a failure.

**~The festival, normal POV**

Sasuke walked alongside Naruto, looking like he really wanted to hit something. Naruto rambled on about how Sasuke should really loosen up, but didn't care in the slightest that his friend wanted to go home.

"_Why did I have to get stuck with such an idiot?"_

"Naruto, Sasuke, fancy seeing you here," Shikamaru said, as he and Neji walked up to them.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing here," Naruto asked.

"I got into an argument with my mom, so I'm here to get away from her."

Naruto shrugged at his response; he should have known.

"Anyway, I blackmailed Teme into coming here, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stick around you all night. I'll be checking your house regularly, and if I find you back there before the festival is over, I'm going to give all your fan girls that list," Naruto said, smugly, as he casually walked away.

"He blackmailed you," Neji asked, "With what?"

"Oh, shut up, Neji," Sasuke replied.

"Fine be that way, we're going to go drinking; do you want to come with us?"

"No, I'm just going walk around the village until Naruto's timer ends, then I can punch him for blackmailing me," Sasuke said, turning and walking in the opposite direction.

**~With the girls**

They entered the village, staring in awe of everything around them. So many colors of lights and decorations strewn all over, stalls and shops everywhere selling everything you could think of, they had never been in a human village after receiving their powers. At the very least this would be a fun experience.

"Ok, so remember what I said, we're going to stick together right," Sakura asked.

She turned to see Temari and Tenten had already disappeared in the crowd.

Hinata tapped her shoulder to get her attention, "Um, Sakura, I-I was kind of hoping to look for the human that saved me earlier today and I-"

"Just go, I'll be fine."

"Oh, o-ok, sorry," Hinata said as she started walking away.

Sakura sighed, she had a feeling this would happen. She didn't even know where to start.

**~With Tenten and Temari**

"This place is so awesome," Tenten said, excitedly.

"Tell me about it. Hey do you want to try some sake, I want to see if it's as potent as what we have back home," Temari replied.

"That sounds like fun to me, let's go!"

They entered the bar and were greeted with the sight of two men in a heated drinking contest. Most of the crowd was cheering for them, hoping that one would win.

"Sheesh, the festival just started, how long have they been at it," Tenten asked.

"They were like that when we got here," A male voice responded to her.

She turned to see a man about her age. He had long dark brown hair and pale skin. His eyes were white, and devoid of pupils, clearly he was from the family Hinata had blessed. He was a ninja, she could tell from his headband.

"We haven't been here for long though," He continued.

No sooner had he said that, the contest the two men were having had ended.

"Looks like Kiba wins," The man next to the Byakugan-user said.

He was a ninja too. His black hair was put up in a spiked ponytail. His eyes were brown and his expression showed that he was bored. He didn't look like he even wanted to be here tonight.

"I knew that was going to happen. Anyway, we've never seen you two ladies around the village before. What are you doing here," The Byakugan-user asked.

"We're in town for the festival, of course. I'm Tenten and this is my friend Temari. Who are you?"

"Hyuga Neji."

"Nara Shikamaru, and for future reference ladies, don't partake in a drinking contest. You'll lose."

Temari felt her blood boil at that comment, "Now wait just a minute, are you saying that I would lose because I'm a woman?"

"Technically, yes. Women get drunk faster than men, it's a biological thing. Therefore they aren't as good at holding their sake," Shikamaru answered.

Temari could tell he was trying to test her patience; she could never back down from a challenge.

"Alright, well if you think you're so smart, let's see who can hold their sake better. Let's have a drinking contest, right now."

"Nah, I don't really feel like it."

"You already said I would lose, so I want to prove that. You have nothing to lose since you're so sure you're going to win, right," Temari reasoned.

Clearly, she wasn't going to let his insult go unpunished.

Shikamaru sighed, "Fine, let's go."

They walked off to begin their contest. Tenten stood next to Neji and decided it was best just to watch.

"Sorry about my friend; she's protective of her sex," Tenten said.

"It's alright; Shikamaru deserves to get his words thrown back at him. He was just raised that way," Neji replied.

There was a small moment of silence before Tenten spoke up again.

"So, you're a ninja?"

"Yes, and I don't see you wearing a headband so I'm guessing you're not."

"Oh, I am. I'm just not from a big village like this one. I can hold my own on the battlefield though."

He raised a brow, "Really? How about I buy you a drink and we'll talk about it?"

Tenten smiled, "Sure."

Neji bought her a drink, and the two began a conversation about their different fighting styles.

**~With Hinata**

Hinata walked through the crowd, admiring the village around her. She felt her stomach rumble, and realized that she hadn't eaten anything before arriving. She glanced to her right and noticed a small ramen shop called Ichiraku. She entered the shop to find that it wasn't nearly as busy as the rest of the village. It was then she noticed someone else was dining here. To her surprise it was exactly the man who had rescued her from the trap earlier that same day.

His blonde hair was short and spiky. His eyes were bright cerulean blue. His skin lightly tanned, and he had whisker marks on his cheeks. He was slurping up his ramen so quickly that it was amazing he didn't choke on it. Hinata proceeded to tap his shoulder to get his attention. He looked up from his bowl of ramen.

"S-Sorry to bother you, but is this seat taken," She asked, politely gesturing to the one next to him.

He grinned, "Nope."

Hinata mumbled "thank you" and sat down beside him. She noticed that he didn't go right back to his food afterwards though. He continued smiling at her; Hinata could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.

"Are you new here," He asked.

"Oh, um, yes I am."

"Awesome, I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

"I'm Hinata."

"Hinata… that sounds familiar. Were you named after the goddess of nature?"

She jumped very slightly, but not enough for him to notice, "Um, yes I was."

Naruto turned to the chef behind the counter and asked, "Hey, Teuchi, can I get a bowl for my pretty friend here?"

Hinata swore her face couldn't get any more red.

"Sure thing, Naruto," The chef replied.

Naruto turned back to Hinata. He proceeded to prop his elbow on the counter, and unknowingly into his own ramen bowl causing him to slip and hit his head on the counter. Hinata giggled softly, while Naruto felt his cheeks turning red.

The waitress looked over at him, "Real smooth, Naruto."

"Oh, shut up Ayame."

**~With Sakura**

"_Well, it's official: I'm lost."_

Sakura had been walking around the village, not really paying attention to where she was going. She was sure that the festival was far from her now, but she also didn't know how to get back.

"_This is the last time I let the girls talk me into doing anything."_

She continued walking down the quiet, darkened street.

"_I shouldn't have come here. I knew this was a bad idea. Should I just go home? It's not like I've had any fun tonight, and we've only been here for like half an hour now! I should just-"_

"Hey, you over there!"

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when a male voice called out to her. She turned to see two men coming towards her. They looked friendly enough, but she could sense something… dangerous about them.

"Hey, sexy, you lost or something," One of them asked.

"Why don't you come with us, pretty lady? We'll take you where you need to go," The other man said.

"We don't bite, unless you want us to."

Sakura remained silent, slowly stepping away from them. She could sense their intentions. She knew what they really wanted. She briefly considered using her powers to simply fight them off, but remembered that she wasn't allowed to. For if she let them live, her identity would be exposed, and if she had killed them, Amaterasu would surely be angry; even if it was in the means of self-defense. Without any other foreseeable option, Sakura decided it best to run. She took off down the road as fast as she could, without her using her godly speed.

The two men gave chase, not willing to give up on their target.

"Hey, come on, get back here!"

Sakura proceeded to jump to the rooftops, hoping she could lose them there. Her plan failed when they jumped to the roof as well; they were ninja. Sakura started to panic as she sprinted across the buildings, wishing she could find some way to lose the two perverts.

She managed to get out of their sight for a moment by jumping down onto the street again. Upon landing, she turned to start running in a different direction, only to run into a person.

Sakura fell back onto the ground, "Ow…"

"What the heck is wrong with you," He asked, bluntly.

Sakura sat up quickly, "Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you, sir. You see, I was trying to get away from-"

Her explanation was cut short when the two perverts called out for her once again… saying some rather inappropriate things. The man she had run into seemed to understand the situation.

He looked around for a moment, and then pointed to a nearby billboard, "Get behind that sign and I'll get rid of them for you."

Sakura didn't hesitate to jump behind the billboard and tried to calm her rapid heartbeat from all the running she had done. She carefully peeked out from her hiding spot and saw the two men talking to her savior.

"Have you seen a sexy girl with pink hair come by here?"

"No. Now go away."

"Are you absolutely sure? You know, we could cut you in with us and-"

"I don't think Lord Hokage would very happy to know that his ninja brethren were stalking innocent girls. In fact I'd think he'd be so mad he'd strip you both of your ranks and send you back to the academy."

The two gulped, and ran off saying that they would never do it again.

"You can come out now."

Sakura jumped down next to him, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

The man nodded in response, "You're welcome. You should be more careful though. All the freaks tend to come out during the festival."

It was then that Sakura got a good look at him. He was about a head taller than her. She also couldn't help, but notice that he was very handsome. His raven hair was spiked up in the back, and his forehead covered by his ninja headband. His onyx eyes stared into her emerald ones. He was intimidating, yet she could have sworn she saw something more behind his expressionless eyes; something that conveyed he was the slightest bit concerned for her.

She cleared her throat, "Ahem, I guess I should have thought of that."

He turned and started walking away.

Sakura looked down in slight disappointment before the man asked, "Aren't you coming?"

She snapped her head up and walked up beside him.

"Why are you letting me walk with you?"

He shrugged, "Hn."

She took this to mean, 'so that you don't run into any more trouble.'

After about two minutes of walking, Sakura spoke up again, "So, what's your name?"

"Hn. You know, most people consider it more polite to say your own name before asking someone else's," He smirked.

"_Well, aren't you Mr. Prim and Proper," _She thought, sarcastically.

"Ok then, I'm Sakura."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

There was another long moment of silence between the two.

"You don't seem to talk much," Sakura commented.

"Hn, I get that a lot."

They continued walking down the deserted street. The sounds of the festival could be heard clearly from where they were.

"You must be new here," Sasuke said, "I can tell you don't know your way around."

"Oh, yeah I came here for the festival with my friends, and they kind of ditched me. What were you doing away from the party?"

"Actually, I was avoiding it. I was blackmailed into going by my idiot best friend."

Sakura giggled, "Well, aren't we a pair?"

"Hn."

"Are you sure you don't mind me walking with you? I mean I can just go find my friends if you'd rather be left alone."

He shrugged, "Honestly, I don't care. You and I both got dragged here against our will anyway."

"Ok I'm just going to take that as, 'you want me around because you don't want to get lonely,'" She replied, jokingly.

He looked at her, "You know you shouldn't assume."

She giggled, "What? Can't you take a joke?"

He rolled his eyes, _"Women…"_

**~End of Chapter.**

**Chapter four will be up soon!**

**~Sakura**


	4. The Festival (Part 2)

**Here's chapter four!**

**~With Sasuke and Sakura, normal POV**

"Wait, let me get this straight, he blackmailed you by threatening to tell a bunch of girls where you hide from them?"

"If you met them you would know why that's a serious thing," Sasuke replied, "They're _extremely_ annoying."

The two had been sitting on a park bench and having conversations about various topics.

"It's pretty obvious that they don't actually like you. They just want to spend the night with you then be able to say that they did," Sakura said.

"Hn, I could have told you that."

"It's not hard to see why they want you-"

She stopped midsentence and felt her cheeks turn pink. She glanced at Sasuke and saw he had a tiny smirk on his face.

**~With Tenten and Temari**

Temari and Shikamaru were still wrapped up in their drinking contest. Temari, being a goddess, took much longer to get drunk, but she had already passed that bridge. The two were still trying to one-up the other, despite being completely wasted.

Neji and Tenten had been watching from a far, not really caring who won. They were too wrapped up in their own conversations. The two had also had their fair share of sake, but not nearly as much as their friends.

Temari swallowed another shot and smirked at Shikamaru, "Are you going to give up yet?"

"No way woman," His slurred response came.

It was clear that she was winning, but she wanted the satisfaction of hearing him admit defeat.

He swallowed his sake and smirked right back at her, "I'm not going to lose to a woman."

"Well, I'm not going to lose to a man," Temari replied.

Tenten called out to her, "If you guys kiss, I'm going to puke!"

"Oh, shut up Tenten," Temari answered.

The brown-haired goddess rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her new friend.

"I'm serious, if they kiss I'm going to hurl," She said.

Neji chuckled, "I'm right there with you."

"I told her so. This is what happens when you get too competitive."

"Tell me about it. At least Shikamaru has some control over his actions when he's drunk. You should see what my friend Naruto is like when he's wasted," Neji said, shuddering slightly.

"Oh, now I have to know," Tenten replied.

"To put it simply, he thought I was a girl and started hitting on me. Of course I made sure to get someone else to take him home that night so I didn't have to deal with him," He explained.

Tenten broke down laughing, "To be completely honest, Neji, you do look like a girl."

His cheeks flushed with embarrassment, "Shut up, I do not."

"No, no you really do! I mean have you seen your hair? I could braid it for you, give you a little bit of make-up and a dress, and we could be best girl buddies!"

He took her drink from her, "I think you've had enough to drink tonight."

She pouted, "Aw, come on, I was just teasing."

Neji rolled his eyes, "Trust me I can tell when I've let someone drink too much."

"I'm still thirsty though," She pouted.

"That's not my problem now is it?"

She continued to pout, "You're mean, Neji."

"You brought this on yourself," He smirked, taking a sip of his own sake.

**~With Hinata and Naruto**

The two were still sitting at Ichiraku, having conversations and getting to know each other. They had been asking questions back and forth, nonstop, for half an hour now.

"Ok, your turn to ask a question," Naruto said, smiling.

"Hm, favorite color?"

Naruto's cheeks turned pink, "As of tonight, violet."

"_The same as your eyes," _He added in his head.

"What about yours," He asked.

"It's a tie between orange and cerulean blue," Hinata answered, feeling her cheeks turn pink as well.

"_Both of them remind me of you," _She mentally added.

Teuchi and Ayame had been inadvertently listening to the two talking while they were working.

Ayame whispered to her father, "I think someone's got a crush."

Teuchi chuckled softly, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

Naruto tapped his chin in thought, "Hm… what's your sign?"

"Capricorn; what's yours?"

"Libra; where are you from?"

Hinata hesitated. The goddesses had promised to wait until the right time to reveal their identities, or else their whole mission would be compromised. She took a deep breath and regained her composure.

"I'm not from a specific place," She lied.

"Oh, you're a nomad?"

"Yes," She felt so bad for lying to him, but she had no choice, "Also, that counts as your question so it's my turn again."

Naruto proceeded to face-palm, "I should have been paying more attention."

Hinata simply giggled in response.

**~With Sasuke and Sakura**

"Wow, this Naruto does sound like an idiot. I mean, hitting on your friend because he looks like a girl, not cool."

Sasuke made an amused 'hm,' "To be fair he was drunk."

"That explains a lot," Sakura said, laughing.

Sasuke checked the time on his watch, "Naruto's time limit is almost up, meaning that I can get to bed faster."

Sakura quickly got up off the bench, "What time is it?"

"1:30 in the morning."

Sakura grabbed her hair in frustration, "Crap, I told the girls we weren't going to stay all night, and the party is surely over by now! I'm so sorry; I have to go find my friends."

She started walking away only to find him right beside her once more.

Before she could ask he said, "You don't know your way around, remember?"

He guided her back to the main road to start the search. Not long after getting there they found Naruto and Hinata outside of a, now closed, Ichiraku. Sakura ran up to Hinata.

"There you are! Come on let's find the girls, we have to go," Sakura said, trying to pull Hinata along with her.

"Oh, ok, just a second," Hinata said.

She turned back to Naruto, "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize how late it was. I have to go now, Naruto."

The blonde gave a disappointed sigh, "I had a feeling that would happen. So, one last question: will I see you tomorrow?"

Hinata blushed, "Yes, good night Naruto!"

"Good night Hinata," Naruto replied.

With that, she and Sakura took off to find their friends. Naruto watched her leave, looking like he was in a trance.

Sasuke stood next to his dazed friend, "What did you put in that poor girl's drink to make her want to hang out with you?"

Naruto was about to tell him off, but stopped and smirked, "I should ask you the same question."

"Hn."

**~With Sakura and Hinata**

Hinata used her special eyes to find the other goddesses, and the two were now heading for the bar. Sakura took notice of Hinata's big smile and blushing face.

"Someone looks happy," The pink-haired goddess smirked.

Hinata blushed deeper, but refused to speak.

"_We can interrogate her later," _Sakura thought, deviously.

They found the bar their friends were located in and went inside. They found Tenten sitting at a table with a man from the Hyuga clan, and Temari was dancing around the room, bragging about winning a drinking contest.

"Come on, you know that if you puked that means I win," She said, with a smirk.

"Whatever, troublesome woman," A man with a spiky ponytail said, while holding a bucket to his chest, "I'm going to have such a hangover because of you."

Sakura grabbed Temari's arm, "Ok, Tema, you've had your fun. It's time to go now."

"Aw, but he didn't admit defeat."

"I'm pretty sure he already did inside that bucket, now let's go," Sakura said, helping the drunk girl walk.

Hinata grabbed Temari's other arm to try to help and they made their way over to Tenten.

"Tenten come on, it's time to go," Sakura said.

"Oh, alright, Neji I have to go home now. It's pretty late. I promise I'll be back tomorrow, ok?"

Neji nodded, "Ok, see you tomorrow, Tenten."

The fighting goddess got up from her seat and the girls exited the building. Sakura couldn't help, but notice that Neji looked the slightest bit disappointed that his new friend had to leave so soon.

The four girls exited the village and started walking to a far enough away place for them to teleport back into the clouds.

"Hey girls, you should totally ask Hinata how her night went," Sakura said with an evil smile.

Hinata turned beet red, "Sakura, not now…"

"Oh no, now you have to tell us," Tenten said.

"Hey, did anyone notice that guy I was up against was really hot," Temari asked, her speech slurred.

She clearly wasn't paying attention to anything the other girls said.

"_Either that's the alcohol talking or she was trying to flirt with him by showing off," _Sakura thought.

Once they were far enough away, they teleported to their home in the sky for the night. Sakura sat in her room looking down at the human village below her. She climbed into her bed and stared up at the ceiling of her room, made from the clouds.

"_Tonight was… fun," _She thought, closing her eyes as a smile appeared on her face before she drifted into slumber.

**~End of Chapter.**

**Chapter five will be here soon!**

**~Sakura**


	5. The Next Day

**Chapter five is here, enjoy!**

**~The Leaf village, normal POV**

"Naruto, for the last time, I said shut up. I have a hangover the size of the moon," Shikamaru said, holding an ice pack to his forehead.

"What? I can't describe what happened last night? Also the moon isn't really that big if you think about it, so in reality your hangover isn't that bad."

"Sasuke make him shut up."

The raven haired ninja gave Naruto a very hard, very intended punch to the head.

"Hn, don't have to tell me twice."

Naruto rubbed the bump, "Ok fine if you guys don't want me around I'll go. I know when I'm not wanted."

"Clearly, you don't," Shikamaru said, as the blonde ninja left the room, "How do you put up with him?"

Sasuke shrugged, "You get used to him after a few years… I'm still getting used to him."

Shikamaru laughed, "So who was this chick Naruto said you were with last night?"

"Her name is Sakura. She ran into me while trying to get away from some local perverts. I simply got rid of them for her. We then hung out for the rest of the evening until she had to find her friends."

"Turning soft, are we?"

"No, and if you say anything more on the subject, I'll make sure you have worse problems than a hangover," Sasuke replied.

"Ok, sheesh, sorry, by the way thanks for letting me crash at your place while I sleep this off. I can't go home like this or my mom will kill me."

"Hn, no problem. I'm going out see ya."

Shikamaru gave a slight nod in response as Sasuke left.

He started walking in no particular direction. He liked taking walks. As he walked, his mind went back to the previous night.

"_At least Sakura provides better company than dobe."_

**~The Celestial Plains**

Temari was using her power to move and shape the clouds. Hinata was helping by directing her on which areas of the land needed a change of weather. It was well after sunrise, so Sakura had already lowered the moon for Amaterasu to raise the sun. She was now watching the humans below to find blossoming romance to help bring life into.

Sakura was already well aware that there was a blossoming romance with Hinata and Naruto, but she was not able to interfere. The goddesses were not able to use their power on themselves, you see. If Sakura wanted to help, she would have to do it the way humans do: provide support, but not force.

She was now standing at a window of sorts; it was a hole in the clouds of the Plains that the goddesses used to watch the world below. It was large enough to where they could all use it when needed, but they didn't have to worry about falling through it; it was protected by a special chakra barrier that kept anything from going through it.

Sakura laid out some red thread in a straight line before her. This was a very special thread that only she could use. She used it to find potential couples, and bring them together; hoping that they would be happy together. It was rare, but she had made mistakes in the past resulting in break ups, but she didn't give up. If the humans weren't happy together she simply tried to find a better match for them until she succeeded.

Her hand glowed with chakra as she waved it over the thread. The ends of the thread moved on command from her chakra, and pointed down to two specific humans at each end. Sakura smiled as she had found a match, her hand waved over the thread once more. She watched as the two humans began heading in the direction of the other. Once the humans had reached each other, the center of the thread had a small spark shoot out of it. This was to indicate that she had found a potential match.

She used her chakra on the thread once more. One end of the thread pointed to Naruto, she recognized him from last night. The other end however did not move. Sakura could tell this meant that his perfect mate was not of his world: not human.

Hinata finished helping Temari and began work on the forests below. Her hands glowed with chakra as she started with her own work. She sent her chakra to the world below. It breathed life into the trees, plants, and the human's crops. Her job was to keep nature in balance. She provided food and water of all the creatures below. Whenever a human would cut down a tree to help build a shelter, Hinata could hear them pray for her forgiveness for destroying her creation.

Temari used her chakra to change the wind currents after moving the clouds. Her power controlled the weather and the clouds. She provided rain for the life below, and brought forth the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. She also provided silent support as the protector of women. When she wasn't controlling the weather, she would watch the human below to make sure that no women had been wronged or disrespected. She would bring forth a huge storm as punishment if she needed to.

Tenten watched the training grounds below, providing silent support to the ninja that were there. She could use her chakra to bend the odds in favor of one or the other, but chose not to. She enjoyed simply watching to see who would win rather than try to force victory on one who might not deserve it. However, in this instance, one ninja was clearly going too far with the training. His opponent was getting injured more than they should have. Tenten would not let this go unpunished. Her hands glowed with chakra, and she sent down the invisible energy into the injured ninja. The chakra gave him the strength to get back up and win the battle. Tenten smiled, she enjoyed helping the underdogs.

Once their work was complete, they reported back to Amaterasu.

"Are you sure that you're done for now?"

"Yes, milady," They answered.

The sun goddess nodded, "You are dismissed."

The girls then left and proceeded to teleport back to the Earth below to visit the Leaf village once more.

**~The village**

Naruto sat at Ichiraku with a bowl of ramen in front of him. Even as he ate, he couldn't get his mind off of the girl he had met last night.

"_She was so cool… I really hope I can see her again," _He thought, smiling to himself.

"You look happy today, Naruto," Ayame teased.

His cheeks burned, "Be quiet Ayame!"

She laughed and gave him a refill of his water, "I'm just messing with you. I think it's cute."

Naruto turned back to his food with his cheeks still burning. He then felt someone tap his shoulder, and turned to see that it was Hinata. He smiled brightly at her.

"Good morning Hinata!"

She giggled, "Good morning Naruto. Do you just always eat here or something?"

"It's my favorite place to eat," He replied.

**~The training grounds**

Neji sat on a rock attempting to meditate, but was having no such luck. His old team mate Rock Lee was training intensely not too far away from him. He silently thanked Amaterasu that their old Jonin, Gai, was out on a mission. Neji could barely stand having one of them around, but two was his limit.

"Lee, would you do me a favor," Neji asked, after he found that he couldn't stand his friend's blabbering about 'youth' any longer.

"Yes Neji?"

"Would you kindly shut up? If you're going to train that's fine, but you don't need to constantly talk while you do it. You're interrupting my meditation."

"Do not underestimate the power of youth, my friend," Lee replied, doing his 'nice guy' pose.

"If you say 'youth' one more time, I'm going to shove a kunai down your throat."

"Sounds like fun. Do you mind if I get in on that action?"

Neji felt his heart skip a beat as he recognized Tenten's voice. He opened his eyes and looked up to see her standing on a tree branch in front of them. How long was she standing there? He didn't sense her chakra, and he didn't hear or see her coming… odd.

Lee, however, practically lit up at the sight of her, "Greetings, fair and youthful maiden, did you come here to train with us?"

Neji suppressed the sudden urge to hit him, as he got up from his meditation position. Tenten jumped down from her perch on the branch.

"Fair and youthful," She laughed, "What's wrong with him?"

"A lot; it's good to see you again," Neji replied.

Lee's eyes widened, "You know her, Neji?! Why did you not introduce me to her sooner?"

"Probably because I just met her yesterday," His snarky response came.

Lee ignored this answer and continued talking to her, "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Rock Lee, the Leaf village's handsome devil!"

Tenten took a step back as he did his 'nice guy' pose once more, "Uh, hi I'm Tenten, and I'm officially creeped out now."

"Do you still wish to train with us, fair Tenten?"

"Oh, I'm having second thoughts," She mumbled to herself.

Neji could tell that Lee was bothering her. He wasn't about to let that continue.

"Lee, isn't it time for you do laps around the village? You wouldn't want Gai-sensei to come back from his mission to find that you'd gotten slower now would you?"

Lee gasped, "You are right, Neji! I am sorry for such a brief meeting Tenten, but I must go now!"

With that, he ran off. Tenten sighed, happy to be rid of him.

"Sorry about Lee, I hope he didn't make you feel uncomfortable."

"Is he always like that?"

"Yes, it's amazing that people can put up with him. Anyway, how did you get here without us noticing? You didn't make any noise, I couldn't sense your chakra, and I couldn't see you arrive."

"_I figured he would notice. Just stay calm, girl," _She thought.

She shrugged, "I don't know, I guess either I'm just that good, or you're losing your touch."

The reality was that the reason she was perched on that tree branch, was because she had not been in her human form when she arrived. Each of the goddesses had an animal form they could use to walk freely around on Earth in case their intervention was needed. Hinata's was a fox, Sakura's was a black wolf, Temari's was a weasel and Amaterasu's was a white wolf.

Tenten's form was an eagle, she had landed on the branch upon finding the boys and transformed back while in hiding. The reason Neji could not sense her chakra was because she, along with the other goddesses, were able to mask their chakra indefinitely. This was so humans would not notice how much more powerful they really were and become suspicious.

Tenten knew it was dangerous to be hanging around someone who could read chakra patterns, but she felt confident that he wouldn't figure out her secret. Who would ever suspect someone was a god?

"So, did you want to get back to your meditation, or would you like me to help you train," She asked with a smile.

"It would be nice to have someone much less annoying to train with."

**~End of Chapter.**

**Sorry for ending this one kind of abruptly, I didn't want to make it too long. Chapter six will be here soon!**

**~Sakura**


	6. Alone Time

**Chapter six is here!**

**Note: I've noticed a trend among stories that involve multiple couples. There may be a main couple that the story is trying to focus on, but they put very little emphasis on the other couples. I'm going to try to balance the couples "on-screen" time as much as possible so that my story doesn't have that problem.**

**~The Village**

Shikamaru, having successfully gotten over his hangover, was now lying on his back in the grass watching the clouds.

"So, I finally found you," Shikamaru groaned internally as he recognized that voice.

Temari stood by a tree smirking at him, "You're a pain to find."

"Probably because I wasn't trying to be found, especially by you, woman," He replied.

She deliberately walked over and sat down next to him, "About last night, I was trying to teach you a lesson."

"For what?"

"You knew that I would try to prove you wrong, so I did. If it meant causing you harm then so be it."

"Who said anything about proving you wrong? I was giving you advice and you acted against it. Tch, troublesome woman."

Her hand twitched as she was preparing to reach for her fan, "You're starting to push my limits."

He glanced lazily at her, "What do you want anyway? You said you were looking for me and here I am."

"Oh, right, I came here for an apology."

"Accepted, now go away."

"I meant from you, sexist pig."

He sat up slightly, "You're asking for an apology from me? You're the one who challenged me. You won, and that's all there is. I didn't do anything to you."

"You said I would lose because I'm a woman, that hurt you know. I want an apology for that."

Shikamaru pulled back a little, _"What a drag. This girl's spunky, I hate spunky."_

Temari stared expectantly at him. She wasn't leaving until he gave her what she wanted. She was fully prepared to make it rain on him if she wanted. She didn't care if her identity was exposed; it was her job to punish men like him.

"I'm sorry."

She snapped up at his response, "Huh?"

"You heard me, I said I'm sorry. I was raised differently. My dad grew up before they started letting women be ninja and he raised me like this ok? Now can I get back to my cloud watching?"

Temari gave a small smile. She pulled her fan off her back and lied down next to him. He gazed curiously at her.

"Apology accepted. Now do you mind telling me why you like watching clouds?"

He turned his attention back to the sky, "It's simple really. Look at them up there, floating around without a care in the world, never having to worry about anything. I wish I could be like a cloud, not having to worry about anything."

Temari managed to keep a straight face, but inside she felt differently.

"_Hm, maybe they're not all that bad," _She thought, _"I guess I've spent so much time shaping the clouds that I never thought about how humans saw them."_

She felt, what was the word, touched that her creation was so appreciated.

**~With Sasuke**

Sasuke had been taking one of his usual brooding walks around the village. He took a right turn down an empty street. He took notice of a rather large tree on the side of the road as he started to go past it.

"Hey there!"

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his skin when Sakura popped out from the tree branches. He quickly tried to regain his composure as a blush threatened to cover his cheeks from having lost his cool for a moment. Sakura jumped down from the branch, and was clearly trying not to laugh.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

"_Yes, you nearly gave me a heart attack."_

"I wasn't scared. How the heck did you do that? I didn't sense your chakra and I didn't hear or see you moving up there."

Sakura giggled despite herself, "That's easy. You didn't know I was there because you weren't paying attention. You weren't looking for chakra signals, so you didn't find any. Your mind was elsewhere so you weren't listening to your surroundings. You were paying attention to where you were walking and didn't bother looking at the tree for more than a second, so you couldn't have seen me."

He blinked in disbelief. Did she just make him look dumb? No. He refused to believe that.

"Hn, what are you doing here anyway?"

A light pink tinted her cheeks, "Well, last night you so thoughtfully reminded me that I don't know my way around here. So, I was kind of hoping that perhaps you could give me a tour."

He raised a brow at her, considering the offer.

"If you don't want to that's fine too, I'll just be on my way and head home early. I don't want to be a bother or anything," She continued.

"_**Honey, you call yourself the goddess of love? Out of everyone you are probably the worst at talking to guys," **_Her Inner screamed.

"_Shut. Up."_

"Hn, ok. Come on," He started walking.

She caught up to him, "You don't mind giving me a tour?"

He shrugged, "I didn't have anything better to do."

Sakura walked alongside him silently. Sasuke glanced at her through his raven hair.

"_She's weird."_

**~With Naruto and Hinata**

"That's the Hokage's mansion. Someday I'm going to be Hokage, and I'll be in charge of the whole village!"

Hinata giggled, "It's good to see that you have big dreams."

"My old sensei is the Hokage right now, but soon I'll challenge him for the title."

"I wish you the best of luck for that day."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, "Heh thanks Hinata."

He grabbed her hand and continued showing her around the village.

"That's Yamanaka flower shop, and over there is the book store…"

Hinata hadn't been paying too much attention to what he was saying. She was just happy that he was spending time with her.

"Oh, yeah I almost forgot," Naruto said in realization.

"What did you almost forget?"

He pulled her along with him, without answering her question. They went up a flight of stairs and stopped in front of an apartment.

"What's this?"

"My house, I wanted to make sure you would be able to find me when I'm not at Ichiraku," Naruto blushed, "Do you want to come inside and watch a movie or something?"

"Sure," Hinata smiled.

He opened the door and stepped aside to let her in first. She took in the surroundings of the small apartment with a smile.

"It's not much, but it's home," Naruto said sheepishly.

"I think it's nice," Hinata replied, taking a seat on the couch.

He grinned back at her, and went to put in a Yukie Fujikaze movie.

**~End of Chapter.**

**Sorry for another abrupt ending, I promise chapter seven will be more eventful.**

**~Sakura**


	7. Divine Strength

**Chapter seven is here!**

**~The training grounds**

Neji and Tenten were sitting under a tree, resting after their training session.

"I don't understand, how did you beat me," He asked.

Tenten shrugged, "Luck?"

Truthfully, she was a naturally better fighter than him. She couldn't tell him that though, it would lead to exposing her secret.

Neji furrowed his brow in concentration. It wasn't the first time he had lost a battle, the first being his Chunin finals fight against Naruto, but this was different. Something about losing to Tenten felt strange. He couldn't quite explain it.

"_I mean her no disrespect, but she should have been an easy win. She's a long range attacker and I use close combat. Besting her on the battle field shouldn't be an issue, especially for me," _Neji thought,_ "Speaking of which, her chakra, something isn't right about it. Women have a smaller chakra amount than men, but with better control. Tenten has an abnormally weak amount of chakra for someone who's so gifted on the battle field."_

Tenten didn't notice his frustration. She relaxed against the tree, and opened her robe a little to help her cool off.

"Ah, that's much better," She said, closing her eyes and smiling.

Her comment snapped Neji out of his thoughts and caused him to look at her. He was about to turn back to his original position, but he caught sight of her partially opened robe… without meaning to of course. He couldn't see anything too scandalous, but still found himself unable to look away. Tenten opened one eye ever so slightly to peer over at him.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," She said, "I didn't take you for a pervert, Neji."

He quickly looked away, a light blush coloring his face, "Sorry."

**~With Sasuke and Sakura**

"Thank you for showing me around, Sasuke."

"Hn."

Sakura giggled, "I should get you a thesaurus; it would help you broaden your vocabulary."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in response, "You're weird."

"It's one of my best qualities," She smiled.

Sasuke said nothing and took a bite of his tomato. They had bought some food earlier for lunch, and were now eating it at a picnic table in a grassy clearing. Sakura glanced curiously at him.

"How can you eat those? Tomatoes are disgusting," She said.

"That's strike one, you say anything else to mock the tomato and I'll have to punish you. Besides I should ask you the same question. How can you eat cantaloupe?"

Sakura looked down at her large quantity of the sweet, orange fruit, "I can eat cantaloupe because it's awesome and delicious. What's your excuse?"

"Hn, I can eat tomatoes because I think they're delicious. If you don't like them that just means more for me."

"Well, if you don't like cantaloupe, that means more for me," Sakura replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

"_Hn, childish and overly excitable… By all accounts, I should find this girl to be a pest nothing more, but I don't. Why?"_

"Is something on your mind, Sasuke?"

Before he could answer, Sakura got tackled by a blur of red and white. The goddess found herself being pinned down by a woman. The woman had long red hair, red eyes covered by black-rimmed glasses, and pale skin. She wore a long sleeved violet shirt that showed her cleavage, and black shorts that barely covered her thighs. In Sakura's eyes, she looked like a prostitute. The look on the woman's face said she was poised to kill.

The woman slapped Sakura across the face, "How many times do I have to tell you dumb sluts to stay away from my Sasuke?"

"Karin, let her go," Sasuke commanded.

"Wait just a minute, Sasuke sweet heart! I need to teach this whore a lesson she'll never forget!"

Karin pulled out a kunai and held it to Sakura's neck. The goddess grabbed Karin's weapon and tried to keep it from cutting her. Sakura, being a goddess, was obviously immortal. She had no blood, she could not bleed; if she were cut the wound would heal instantly and her secret would be found out.

Sasuke attempted to pry Karin off of the pinkette, but Karin refused to move. She shoved him away from her by elbowing him in the stomach. Sakura raked her brain for a solution, but only knew of one.

"_Forgive me, Lady Amaterasu," _She inwardly pleaded, as she had decided to try her only option: her divine strength.

Sakura let go of Karin's hand with one hand and reached up to grab her by the shirt. She then proceeded to push Karin off of her with her divine strength. Karin tried to shove her back down, but failed. Once Sakura had pushed Karin completely off of her, she punched her right in the face, which sent her across the clearing they were in. Sakura got up and ran over to Karin and continued punching her again and again.

Sasuke watched the scene from a short distance away. His eyes were wide with shock as Sakura continued to beat the tar out of Karin. He hadn't considered Sakura to have any ninja training, but boy did she prove him wrong!

"_That's actually kind of cool," _He thought.

Sakura punched Karin one last time; she then picked her up by her shirt, using only one hand, and looked her dead in the eyes.

"You know, you shouldn't just go up an attack people for hanging out with someone," Sakura pointed to the clouds with her free hand, "You'd better watch your step, the powers that be are always watching."

Sakura dropped Karin on her back. Karin shook with fear and stared up at the goddess.

"That's your warning. Now get out of here before I change my mind," Sakura commanded.

Karin got up quickly, panting heavily from shock, and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her. Sakura smiled and proceeded to dust herself off as she walked back over to Sasuke. His eyes were still wide as he was trying to comprehend what just happened.

"_Note to self: do not make Sakura angry."_

Sakura blushed and laughed nervously, "Sorry had to see that, Sasuke… "

Sasuke snapped out of his revere, and regained his composure, "Hn. What are you sorry for? It's about time someone gave her what she deserved."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. She's a pest, I hate that girl. Remind me to pay you back for that someday. Besides you were acting on self-defense."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief, he was happy she did that?

"Where did you learn to do that? Your strength is almost inhuman," Sasuke asked, "If you had used that last night, you wouldn't have needed my help."

Sakura blushed again, "Oh, it's purely for self-defense. I don't use it unless I'm sure that I need to."

"I can see why. I'm sure that I won't need to worry about her ever again. Thanks," He replied with a small smile.

The pinkette fiddled with her hair in embarrassment, "Um, you're welcome."

"_Whew, that was too close. Calm down, Sakura, he doesn't suspect a thing. Oh, I hope Lady Amaterasu won't be too mad…"_

**~End of Chapter.**

**I hope this chapter was more eventful like I promised. Chapter eight will be here soon!**

**~Sakura**


	8. Thoughts

**Chapter eight is here!**

**~The Celestial Plains, sunset**

Sakura watched as Amaterasu lowered the sun. The goddesses had just returned from their visit to the human land, and Sakura was going to face up to her punishment. She was fully prepared to accept whatever Amaterasu was going to do to her. Slowly, the pinkette approached her master.

"Lady Amaterasu?"

The sun goddess looked in her direction, "Ah, Sakura I heard you and the others return. Come here, it's time to raise the moon."

Sakura stepped closer and started to raise the moon with her chakra. Amaterasu said nothing as she lowered the sun. Sakura glanced at her worriedly; she had been expecting her master to say something about her actions.

Once the moon had been raised, and the sun lowered, Sakura turned to Amaterasu.

"Milady," She asked.

"Yes?"

Sakura dropped to her knees in front of Amaterasu, "I'm so sorry, Lady Amaterasu! That girl, she was going to hurt me and I couldn't let her do that! They would have found out who I am and I-"

She stopped when she felt Amaterasu's comforting hand on her shoulder; Sakura looked up at her.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'm not mad at you," Amaterasu smiled.

"Y-You're not?"

"Why would I be? You had a perfectly good reason. If you had attacked that girl without provocation, then I would have been upset. Although, by attacking her at all you did risk giving your identity to the young man you were with. Are you sure that he does not suspect anything?"

"If he did, he wouldn't say it. Tenten made a good point about it, who would ever suspect someone to be a god?"

"A very good point indeed; I must ask you to be more careful from now on. Some humans are far more observant than others."

"Of course, milady, I am truly sorry."

"You are forgiven, my child. Good night," Amaterasu said, as she turned and started towards her room for the night.

Sakura walked back to where the other girls were. She had already told them about what she did.

"Oh, Sakura we weren't expecting you to be back so soon. You aren't in too much trouble, are you," Tenten asked.

The pinkette sat down in front of them, "No I'm not in trouble. Lady Amaterasu wasn't even mad. She said I had a good enough reason for what I did."

"See, girls? I told you Sakura was right with what she did," Temari said.

**~In the Leaf Village, at Ichiraku**

"Then she said she's supportive of me and my dreams, and then-"

"Dobe, shut up. I'm in a good mood right now and I don't need you to give me a head ache to ruin it."

"Teme you're such a killjoy. Am I not allowed to be happy that I've found an awesome girl that actually wants to spend time with me?"

"Hn, if I hadn't seen her myself, I would've thought she was a figment of your imagination."

Naruto growled and was about to retaliate, but stopped when he caught the rest of what Sasuke had said, "Wait, did you say you were in a good mood?"

"That's right; don't ruin it for me."

Naruto slurped his ramen in silent confusion. He had NEVER seen Sasuke in a good mood. He didn't look like his mood ever changed. He still had that same blank, uncaring expression on his face even now.

"Why are you in a good mood? You're never happy!"

"Hn, I ran into Sakura again today. I'm in a good mood because I got to watch her beat the tar out of Karin."

Sasuke continued eating his ramen, while Naruto decided to pester him.

"So what you're saying is that you're happy because you got to watch a cat fight?"

"A cat fight would imply that Karin actually fought back, which she didn't. Sakura has almost inhuman strength. Karin was going to hurt her, and she simply fought back. After how Sakura dealt with her, I don't think I'll have to worry about her ever again."

Naruto smirked, "So, what you're saying is, you like having Sakura around?"

"Hn, she provides better company than you do."

Naruto's smirk faded instantly. Sasuke finished his food and started walking home for the night.

Along the way, he passed by some girls he recognized as part of his fan club. They didn't try to talk to him like they normally did. In fact, the expressions on their faces showed that they were afraid of him. Sasuke smirked inwardly.

"_Hn, word certainly spread fast. Maybe having Sakura around isn't such a bad thing. Purely for convenience sake, of course,"_ He thought, _"So, why the heck am I still thinking about her?"_

"_**Probably for the same reason any other guy would,"**_ His inner responded.

"_Oh, it's you. What do you want now?"_

"_**You really shouldn't disrespect me. Now to answer your question: you're still thinking about Sakura for the same reason any other guy would. Looks like Naruto was right, the goddess of love finally got you in her crosshairs."**_

"_Hn, you're crazy."_

"_**Denial: the first step. Think about it, man. Try as you might, you just can't bring yourself to treat her like your typical fan girls. In your eyes, she's different."**_

"_She's annoying."_

"_**Fine be that way, but take note of this: exactly how is she annoying? Think about how you want to answer that, and get back to me later."**_

His inner disappeared as he reached his house. Sasuke shook his head and simply brushed off the conversation as he went inside for the night.

**~End of chapter.**

**Sorry that this one is short, I promise I'll make the next one longer. Chapter nine will be here soon!**

**~Sakura**


	9. Conversations

**Chapter nine is here!**

**~The next day, Leaf Village, normal POV**

Sasuke opened the door to the Hokage's office, causing Kakashi to look up from his pile of paper work.

"Ah, there you are Sasuke. Do you have those scrolls I requested?"

"Hn, next time ask someone else to fetch something for you," Sasuke replied, dropping a small pile of scrolls on his old sensei's desk.

The raven haired ninja turned to leave the office.

"My, my, aren't we in a hurry? What's the rush? Do you have a hot date with your new girlfriend," Kakashi asked, smirking under his mask.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, suddenly feeling his ears burn, "She's not my girlfriend, and how do you even know about her?"

"Naruto told me everything last night after you two went to Ichiraku. Her name was Sakura, right?"

"Hn, yes."

"I see, you'll have to introduce me at some point," Kakashi teased.

Sasuke refused to respond and simply walked out of the office. He cursed himself for his burning ears. He could not for the life of him figure out why he was reacting this way. He exited the mansion to find Sakura talking to two girls that he recognized as part of his fan club. They hadn't noticed he was there, but he could clearly hear what they were saying.

"Are you going to answer my question or not," Sakura asked.

"Why would you care about finding Sasuke," One of them asked.

"Yeah, it's not like he'd ever like you. I mean look at your forehead; it's huge," The other girl said.

Sakura was clearly hurt by that statement. Sasuke felt a sudden urge to punch those girls for insulting her… why he felt this impulse he did not know. He walked over to them.

"Sakura, there you are. I had to make a delivery for the Hokage and I was just about to look for you. Come on let's go," He said, inwardly smirking at the shocked expressions the two girls had on their faces.

Sakura started walking with him away from the girls. He noticed her sad expression. Something inside him wanted to make her happy. He didn't know what it was or why it was there, but he found the impulse impossible to resist. His expression remained unchanged as he decided to act on this instinct.

"I don't think your forehead is that big."

She looked up at him, "Really?"

"Really."

She smiled and blushed, _"He's sweet."_

**~With Shikamaru**

Shikamaru slammed the door behind him as he walked out of the house. He had gotten into another argument with his mom.

He sighed, "What a drag."

"I'll say."

He looked up to see Temari standing a little ways away from him.

"You have an odd habit of popping up when no one expects it," Shikamaru said.

"Actually I followed the sound of the sound of the yelling to find you this time. All your neighbors said they were used to it by now," She replied, "I take it something bad happened?"

Shikamaru hesitated. He stared silently into her blue-green eyes. Something in her eyes told him that she was actually concerned.

After thinking it over intensely, he replied, "It's nothing to concern yourself with. I just had a fight with my mom. It happens all the time. I just needed to get out for a while."

Temari raised a brow at him, "Are you going to be ok?"

"I'm fine. She's the one with the problem. I'll be moving out soon anyway."

"If you say so," She said.

"What are you doing here?"

She looked down in slight embarrassment, "I wanted to watch the clouds with you again."

It was now his turn to raise a brow at her, "Alright then, let's go, it will help me clear my head."

**~The training grounds**

"Neji, please you must tell me more about her," Lee persisted.

"I don't have to tell you anything. Tenten is my friend and if she wanted to hang out with you she would. That's the end of it."

The two had been training for about an hour now. Most of that time was spent with Lee asking Neji questions about Tenten. Of course Neji refused to answer any of these questions. Why? He actually had respect for Tenten's privacy; without counting that incident the previous day where he snuck a peek at her open robe. Some of the questions Lee had asked Neji didn't even know the answer to. He didn't know where Tenten lived, or why she decided to come to the village. He made a mental note to ask her about that at some point. Lee's pestering did not relent. Even as they were sparring, the questions did not cease.

"_Does he ever shut up? It's almost like he thinks he actually has a chance with Tenten… as if," _Neji thought, as they continued sparring.

"Neji, if I did not know any better, I would think you were trying to keep her for yourself," Lee said, dodging the Hyuga's attacks.

"You know you shouldn't assume, Lee," Neji replied.

Seemingly out of nowhere they heard someone laughing. The two ninja immediately stopped their battle and turned to see Tenten doubled over laughing.

Neji fought down the blush that threatened to cover his cheeks, "Have you been standing there this whole time?"

Tenten stopped to catch her breath and smirked, "Maybe."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes it is. You guys weren't paying attention. Maybe I heard everything you said, or maybe I didn't. It's not like it's important or anything, right?"

Neji and Lee exchanged glances. Tenten had in fact heard most of their conversation during their sparring. She didn't hear everything, but she definitely heard her name mentioned. She just thought it was hilarious that the two boys were even having this argument.

Tenten pulled out her weapons scrolls and smirked again, "So, are you two going to stand there staring or are we going to train?"

**~End of Chapter.**

**I hope this chapter wasn't too short. Chapter ten will be here soon!**

**~Sakura**


	10. The Truth

**Chapter ten is here! Sorry for the delay, I've been busy.**

**~Several weeks later, Sasuke's POV**

It's been weeks since I first met Sakura. Having her around is pretty useful. She keeps the fan girls away, and she's good company. I have to say, something about her and her friends is… weird. Sakura always has to leave at sunset and she'll usually come back once the moon is out. She and her friends have never stayed one night in the village, despite it being better than where ever it is they're really going every night.

Naruto absolutely will not shut up about his (now official) girlfriend. She's no different from Sakura in terms of mystery either. I mean, thinking more about it, all four of these girls literally came out of nowhere. Kakashi is curious about them too. I think he's noticed how strange they are.

Sakura and I have developed something of a friendship. She's better company than Naruto, but she's still pretty annoying. For one thing, I can't get her out of my mind. I feel different around her too. My heart beats faster when she's around. When she smiles, my stomach feels heavy. Try as I might, I can't wish these feelings away. She's gotten under my skin somehow. She's all I ever think about, and the worst part is… I like it. I actually look forward to spending time with her every day.

She's on another of her "trips" as I'm calling them now. The moon is out, meaning she'll be back any minute. She said she would meet me somewhere private, something about it being important.

**~Sakura's POV**

I just finished raising the moon and I'm on my way to find Sasuke. I told him to wait for me somewhere secluded, where no one would bother us. I can't hold it in anymore. I'm going to tell him the truth. I'm going to tell who I really am.

"_Calm down Sakura. He's rational. He's your friend. He will understand… I hope."_

I don't care how much trouble I get into. I don't care that I'm risking all of our identities by doing this. I really like Sasuke, and if I'm going to be with him someday he has to know the truth. A relationship can't survive without honesty after all. Besides it's better that I tell him, rather than just let him figure it out. He's very smart and I'm sure that he's noticed our strange behavior by now. Such as how we can't stay in the village and how I have to get out of sight at sundown so I can raise the moon.

Eventually, he will put two and two together and figure out that we're not human; that _I'm_ not human. What would he think of me then? Would he not want to be my friend anymore? Would we ever have a future together? Too many unknowns, that's why I have to tell him.

I had reached our meeting place. It was just outside the village in a small clearing. Sasuke was sitting on the grassy hill staring up at the stars.

I took a deep breath, _"Ok, here goes everything."_

**~Normal POV**

"There you are, I was starting to think you weren't going to show up," Sasuke said, as Sakura sat down next to him.

She laughed nervously, "What would possibly make you say that? Do you not trust me or something?"

He raised a brow at her, "You feeling ok? You look a little paler."

He inwardly cursed himself for saying that. Seeing her in such a nervous state worried him. He didn't know why, it just did. His instincts told him to say that. He was concerned for her. Something inside him wanted to make her feel better, to make her happy.

"Oh, I hadn't noticed. I feel fine, don't worry about me."

"_Easier said than done," _He thought.

"Right, anyway, you said you had something important to tell me?"

Sakura gulped, "Oh, yeah that um… Where do I begin? Sasuke if you knew something about me, something that would completely change how you look at me, would we still be friends?"

He glanced questioningly at her.

"It's nothing bad, I promise!"

Spending prolonged periods of time with him had conditioned her to have a small understanding of his silent treatment. He remained quiet, considering her question.

"I suppose, it depends on what it is we're talking about here," He replied, slowly.

Sakura sighed heavily, trying to calm her nerves, _"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be."_

"Sasuke, you're going to find this hard to believe, I mean really hard to believe, but I swear to you it's the truth. I'm sure that by now you've noticed that I act a little differently than other people. I have strength beyond compare, I never stay in the village, I seem to appear out of nowhere in a heartbeat without explanation, and I disappear at sundown every day. There's an explanation for all of it, and I assure you that you never would've guessed it. You see, I wasn't just named after the goddess of the moon… I am the goddess of the moon."

Sasuke sat quietly, processing the information, _"Is she serious? I respect the goddesses but does she have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"_

"I told you it would be hard to believe."

"Hn, no kidding, so when you disappear at sunset?"

"I have to get out of sight to raise the moon."

"Never staying one night in the village?"

"Amaterasu won't allow it; she says it's too risky."

"What about your strength?"

Sakura giggled, "That one should be self-explanatory… an all-powerful deity should have a punch to match."

"Ok then, explain appearing out of nowhere in a heartbeat."

"Divine speed, I outrun even the fastest ninja in this village," She answered with a smirk.

"Hn, a goddess with an attitude, I see? Alright then, stories say that each of the goddesses has an animal form they can use to walk amongst humans. Care to demonstrate?"

Sakura closed her eyes and a bright light started to shine from her. Once it had engulfed her body, it vanished. Instead of Sakura, a wolf had taken her place. Her fur was black as night and her eyes shone brightly in the moon light. Sasuke was taken aback by this. This was the last bit of proof he needed. It was true, Sakura was the goddess, but that didn't mean that he couldn't tease her a little for it.

"Congratulations, you can turn into a puppy. I missed the part where I was supposed to be impressed," He smirked.

Sakura growled at this and pounced on him, pinning him to the ground.

Sasuke wasn't fazed by this, he kept the same smirk on his face, "Nice try, Sakura, but I'm not afraid you."

She turned back into her human form, while still on top of him, "You should be. You have no idea what I'm capable of doing to you."

"_Oh, I can think of a few things that you're doing right now. Such as being too close for comfort. When did I say it was ok for you to touch me, and why does this position not feel wrong?"_

"_**Probably because you like it, that's why."**_

"_You again? This really isn't a good time."_

"_**So you say, or perhaps it's the perfect time. You have a pretty girl on top you; I don't think now is the time to argue with me."**_

"Sakura, you can get off me now."

"Huh," She blushed and quickly got off of him, "S-Sorry, I didn't notice."

"_**I call lying on that, you totally did notice. You were just too busy being distracted by the feeling of his rock-hard abs," **_Her inner scolded.

"_You're not making this easier so be quiet," _Sakura thought.

She kept her eyes on anything but him; her cheeks were now the same color as her hair.

"_Ugh, my ears are burning again," _Sasuke thought.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"_I hate to admit it, but my inner is right. She is really pretty."_

"Sasuke," Sakura said, interrupting his thoughts, "Does it bother you that I'm a goddess?"

"No. It gives some much needed explanation. However, am I correct in saying that your friends are-?"

"Yes, they are too. You can't tell anyone though! Believe me we do not want that kind of attention."

"Relax, I won't tell anyone. Besides I don't think dobe could handle knowing that his girlfriend is the actual goddess of nature."

Sakura giggled, "I think you're right."

"You say you don't want that kind of attention. If you're not here to be worshipped, then what are you doing here?"

"You would be surprised how boring life is in the Celestial Plains. We wanted to see what human life was like. Just watching the humans from above for so many years gets pretty uneventful."

"Hn, then exactly how old are you?"

"In human years, I'm eighteen."

"Sakura," They turned to see the other goddesses behind them, "Come on it's time to go home."

Sakura stood and looked at Sasuke, "Well, I have to go now. Good night."

"Good night," He replied, as she walked away with her friends.

Sasuke started walking back to his house, as thoughts of Sakura stayed firmly in his mind.

**~End of Chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Chapter eleven will be here soon!**

**~Sakura**


	11. Story Update (Sorry)

**Update (sorry)**

**So I haven't updated the story in quite some time, and I'm sure you're curious as to why. I'm sorry, but I've been very busy. My fiancée and I are looking to get our own apartment, so we can start living together right away after getting married. I have also been busy working on my YouTube channel. I'm trying to make YouTube my job you see. I promise that when I have the time I will properly upload a new chapter. I mean it!**

**Now for a shameless plug: if you like let's play videos; check out my YouTube channel ShwahGamer. The views will be helpful and appreciated. If you want to subscribe that's even better. In the end it's your choice.**

**Sakura**


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